Haha as far as I know there still is a big push for minorities and women. If you speak Spanish (or really any common foreign language for that matter), you could be in boot in a week. Had a friend at A-school that was from Russia. They paid him a few hundred extra a month to be qualified as a translator, and he never even had to translate.

Just a quick question has anyone here been to ME "A" school yet? And anyone know how long the wait is? One of my friends said around 2 years...

Haven't been, but that wait sounds right. Last I heard, they were still trying to get a corriculum together and work all that out. Either way, all the A-schools are backed up at the moment, so 2 years sounds reasonable.

i really want to join the coast gaurd but waiting on getting my degree first. This thread has been pretty useful. I haven't talk to a recruiter yet and its a good thing i didn't, dont really like being turned down. haven't went about taking the ASVAB but i will take up on studying for it while im in school. I have a pretty clean record only tickets for unregistered vehicle and expried inspection but nothing more then that. I would like to go into ME rating but i understand its a while wait. if anyone has any advise please shed some light my way. thanks

The only guaranteed A-schools are for critical rates. The only critical rates at the moment are FS and (maybe) OS. To go ME, you're going to have to do some time first. The Coast Guard is one of the best in helping people get their degrees though, so if you want a free degree, and want to get on the list for ME as fast as possible, join sooner rather than later.

If you don't want to be turned down by a recruiter, your best option is to never go talk to a Coast Guard recruiter. They always (ALWAYS) turn people away on their first visit. That's the Coast Guard's way of seeing if you are serious, and willing to pursue an enlistment even after being told that the recruiter can't do much to get you in. If you come back, it shows them that you are serious about enlisting.

Also, if you are currently in school, there's not a lot to study for the ASVAB. I've known people that studied their tails off and it didn't raise their score any. I didn't study at all (took it as a spur of the moment type thing) and got a 99. It is an aptitude test that tests a lot of different areas, so not something you can really study for.

Tickets for things like driving and stuff shouldn't hurt you too much, as long as you take care of them in the right way. It's when you don't pay a ticket and don't show up to court that it's bad. I had a couple of speeding tickets and stuff, but everything was taken care of properly, and they didn't even question it.

LoL...sorry for the novel. Hopefully that answered some of your questions though...

MSST's like to act high-speed, low-drag, but don't really do a lot of what they train for. They are the people that fast-rope onto boats, shoot terrorists, and all the other Homeland Security things. Unfortunately for them (and fortunate for everyone else in the US) there aren't very many hijackings and things like that going on these days.

Day to day, they do a lot of boardings on tankers and things like that to verify that laws are being followed and enforce those that aren't. They're always on stand by for more tactical missions, but the majority of what they do is basic boardings and law enforcement, just on a larger scale than typical boarding teams located at small boat stations.

The majority of them are BMs, MKs, and GMs. They usually have a split of boarding teams and support, so the unit itself will have some ETs, MSTs, SKs, YNs as well, but the majority that are actually on the teams (that do the fast roping, boardings, have weapons training, and all the rest) are operational rates.

Haha sorry. The people that are on the actual teams are mostly boatswains mates (BM, boat drivers), machinery technicians (MK, mechanics), and gunners mates (GM, weapons "experts" I guess would be the best description?).

Yea...forgot the MEs. Still think of them as BMs, MKs, and GMs. But from what I've seen, MEs aren't quite as common at MSSTs. And Public, just read your PM. I play at Bethel if you want to drive the extra 20 mins or so.

Aren't some of the canine handlers still in the BM/MK rates though? My experience is with supporting the MSRT unit here in VA, but we assist PSU's, PATFORSWA, and everything else here in the area and that come through. I'm not part of the units though, so Carson has the better info.

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After college I decided to enlist in the military to pay off some loans and have some fun, and well the fun is still going. 7 years in USCG; Boatswain's Mate: Professional Babysitter. Pays the bills and keeps a roof over my family's head. I was walking in to sign up for the AF when I noticed the CG recruiter... I had no idea what the CG was, checked it out and I was hooked on SAR from there on.

After college I decided to enlist in the military to pay off some loans and have some fun, and well the fun is still going. 7 years in USCG; Boatswain's Mate: Professional Babysitter. Pays the bills and keeps a roof over my family's head. I was walking in to sign up for the AF when I noticed the CG recruiter... I had no idea what the CG was, checked it out and I was hooked on SAR from there on.